Lithography mask and methods

Abstract

A lithography mask including a substrate, a phase shift layer on the substrate and an etch stop layer is provided. The phase shift layer is patterned and the substrate is protected from etching by the etch stop layer. The etch stop layer can be a material that is semi-transmissive to light used in photolithography processes or it can be transmissive to light used in photolithography processes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A lithography mask, comprising:
 a substrate;   a semi-transmissive etch stop layer on the substrate;   a phase shift layer on the semi-transmissive etch stop layer, the phase shift layer being one or more of MoSi, MoSiCON, MoSiCN, MoSiCO or MoSiC, the semi-transmissive etch stop layer being between the substrate and the phase shift layer, at least a portion of the semi-transmissive etch stop layer not overlapped by the phase shift layer; and   an image border feature on the phase shift layer, the image border feature including a material that has a light blocking characteristic and the image border feature overlapping the phase shift layer only in a border region.   
     
     
         2 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes quartz. 
     
     
         3 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the phase shift layer has a property to shift a phase of light incident on the phase shift layer by approximately 180 degrees. 
     
     
         4 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the semi-transmissive etch stop layer has a property to transmit up to 70% of light incident on the semi-transmissive etch stop layer. 
     
     
         5 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer includes Ru-Y 
     
     
         6 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the semi-transmissive etch stop layer includes openings of different dimensions. 
     
     
         7 . The lithography mask of  claim 1 , wherein the phase shift layer includes openings of different dimensions. 
     
     
         8 . A lithography mask, comprising:
 a substrate;   a semi-transmissive etch stop layer on the substrate, wherein the semi-transmissive etch stop layer comprises a material selected from Ru-Nb, Ru-Zr and Ru-Y;   a phase shift layer on the semi-transmissive etch stop layer, wherein the phase shift layer is selected from MoSi, MoSiCON, MoSiCN, MoSiCO or MoSiC, and the semi-transmissive etch stop layer is between the substrate and the phase shift layer; and   an image border feature on the phase shift layer, the image border feature including a material that has a light blocking characteristic and the image border feature overlapping the phase shift layer only in a border region.   
     
     
         9 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the substrate is a patterned quartz substrate. 
     
     
         10 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the phase shift layer has a property to shift a phase of light incident on the phase shift layer by approximately 180 degrees. 
     
     
         11 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the semi-transmissive etch stop layer has a property to transmit up to 70% of light incident on the semi-transmissive etch stop layer. 
     
     
         12 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer includes Ru-Y. 
     
     
         13 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the semi-transmissive etch stop layer includes openings of different dimensions. 
     
     
         14 . The lithography mask of  claim 8 , wherein the phase shift layer includes openings of different dimensions. 
     
     
         15 . A lithography mask, comprising:
 a quartz substrate;   a patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer on the quartz substrate;   a patterned phase shift layer including an MoSi compound on the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer; and   an image border feature on the phase shift layer, the image border feature overlapping the phase shift layer only in a border region.   
     
     
         16 . The lithography mask of  claim 15 , wherein the phase shift layer includes one or more of MoSi, MoSiCON, MoSiON, MoSiCN, MoSiCO, MoSiO, MoSiC or MoSiN. 
     
     
         17 . The lithography mask of  claim 15 , wherein the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer has a property to transmit up to 70% of light incident on the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer. 
     
     
         18 . The lithography mask of  claim 15 , wherein the quartz substrate is patterned. 
     
     
         19 . The lithography mask of  claim 15 , wherein the patterned semi-transmissive etch stop layer has a thickness in a range of 1-20 nanometers, inclusively. 
     
     
         20 . The lithography mask of  claim 15 , wherein the image border feature includes a tantalum-containing material of one or more of from TaHf, TaHfN, TaBSi, TaBSiN, TaSi, TaSiN, TaGe, TaGeN, TaZr or TaZrN.